Does preoperative hydration effect postoperative nausea and vomiting?

. Nursing College

Research

Does preoperative hydration affect postoperative nausea and vomiting

October 2008

Does preoperative hydration affect postoperative nausea and vomiting

Abstract

Background

I work in the Post- Care Unit where the practice in dealing with postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV ) is treating nausea and stopping vomiting . Since there are a number of anesthesia techniques that can be employed to decrease the incidence of PONV , the observation of staff is that hydration may lead to the decrease of the incidence of PONV . Therefore , I decided to

br find out the possibility of conducting a research to investigate the impact of hydration on PONV through a literature review

Literature Review

The literature review revealed that PONV is extensively addressed though the impact of hydration has received a limited attention . Even the studies carried out had limitation and in one or two of them generalization was not possible . The most relevant research for my (Adanir et al , 2008 ) was concerned with replacement of deficit fluid pre- and intra-operatively

Conclusion

My conclusion was that there is a justifiable need for researching the impact of hydration on PONV and that it should be designed to involve the professional staff of pre- , intra- and postoperative surgical units

Introduction

Patients of surgical operations are usually distressed by a number of postoperative complaints . A significant concern of patients is the postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV Working as a nurse anesthetist in the post-anesthesia care unit , it is my observation that patients are concerned with PONV and the professional staff would prefer to prevent PONV rather than dealing with it in the care unit . It is also an observation that many patients come to the operation room either fasting or undergo bowl preparation . Therefore , they are behind in fluids before the surgery and as a result the incidence of PONV is higher in this category of patients

The problem is also the concern of researchers and is extensively discussed in the literature (Adanir etal , 2008 Amponsah , 2007 Kovac , 2000 McCaffrey , 2008 . It is reported in the literature that PONV is not only a side effect of surgery and anesthesia that causes discomfort to patients but it can lead to further postoperative complications such as aspiration (McCaffrey , 2008 . The incidence of PONV has been reported as being between 20 - 30 (Sweeney , 2006 as cited in McCaffrey , 2007 Kovac , 2000 . The concern of patients about PONV was reported in these studies as more than their concern about pain . It was also reported as a main concern of patients with previous experience of surgery as they fear the recurrence of PONV more than the surgery itself (Amponsah 2007

In this I intend to investigate the problem of PONV in the literature in to propose an empirical research in my work place dealing particularly with the incidence of PONV related to dehydration . This is necessary to recommend changes in the current practice or to support the practice with evidences